Side by Side
by everlovingdeer
Summary: "You should probably get going then," he said with a sigh, leaning back against the pillow. "Merlin knows you're the only thing keeping me insane in this hospital wing." There were identical shouts of protest from the other three Gryffindors in the hospital wing.
1. Side by Side

None of my friends understood why I was friends with Remus. They couldn't understand my being anything more than an acquaintance with him because, in their words; Slytherins and Gryffindors weren't friends. It simply wasn't done. Especially when the Gryffindor was not only a half-blood but also a marauder. I was so tempted to tell them where they could shove their words but simply rolled my eyes.

Why were they concerning themselves with my business? And why did it matter that he was 'so completely beneath me'? They knew next to nothing about Remus. All they knew was the rubbish that circulated around the common room. They didn't know about the 8-year-old that I had met and instantly clung to, no matter how determined he was to become a social pariah.

Merlin, I could still remember the first time my parents had taken me to the Lupin household. We had just moved into the neighbourhood when the Lupin's invited us to their home. Remus had been a quiet child, barely speaking to me or meeting my eyes. Thankfully he had grown out of his shyness – well, most of it. And we had been friends ever since.

 _"Remus," Mr Lupin, a tall man said to the young boy who was sat on the sofa, "remember to play nicely while we talk to the Richmonds."_

 _I was stood beside Mr Lupin, looking at 'Remus' curiously. The boy hadn't moved from the sofa once and hadn't so much as glanced my way. He finally looked at me briefly before nodding his head._

 _"Ok."_

 _Satisfied, Mr Lupin patted me on the shoulder before leaving the front room to talk to my parents about some Dumbly-man. I stayed by the doorway, watching the boy curiously when he did nothing more than meet my eyes for a fraction of a second before looking away again._

 _Weird._

 _I crossed the room curiously, settling myself on the sofa beside him. Turning to him, I watched his eyes widen for a second before he moved away slightly. But I didn't get upset – mummy said that Remus was a special boy that I had to be **very** nice to._

 _"Remus," I tested out. The boy looked at me after I had called his name, waiting for me to carry on speaking. But he wasn't going to say anything? What if he couldn't talk? Was that what made him special? Or did it have something to do with the scars that I could visibly see? "What's your favourite thing to do? It's so **boring** here – dad said that because there's muggles around I have to make sure to not talk about magic – **oh** you know what magic is, right?"_

 _"Yes," the word was quiet, and he cleared his throat afterwards._

 _I grinned at the sound of his voice; so, he **could** talk then. "I'm not very good at magic."_

 _"You have to go to Hogwarts first, to learn," he reminded me._

 _"Oh yeah." Smiling excitedly, I moved closer to him and noticed that this time he didn't move away from me. "Dad says we got to Hogwarts when we're 11. Do you think we'll be in the same house?"_

 _He looked away from me and said quietly, "I don't think I'm going to Hogwarts."_

 _"Why not?" I thought for a moment, "You're not going to the one in **France,** are you?" _

_I thought that I saw a smile flicker across his features when he saw just how horrified I sounded at the prospect. But the smile disappeared just as quickly as it came. Remus shook his head, swallowed thickly._

 _"I don't think they'll let me into Hogwarts."_

 _"Why not?"_

 _"Because I'm – I'm different."_

 _"Well," I crossed my arms decidedly, "then I don't want to go either!"_

 _He was visibly confused, looking at me with furrowed brows, "Why?"_

 _"Because we're friends," I humphed, "You didn't answer my question, Remus!"_

 _"Friends?" he repeated the word so quietly that I almost missed it. He looked at me as if expecting me to take the word back but I nodded and he grinned. "What question?"_

 _"What's your favourite thing to do?"_

 _"Read," he admitted quietly, waiting for me to make fun of him for doing something so boring. But I didn't._

 _"Really?" I exclaimed excitedly, turning in my seat to face him, "No one likes to read! Everyone else likes being outside and getting muddy and that's **so gross**." _

_Remus nodded, clearly sharing my thoughts. "I can show you my favourites?"_

 _"Please!" We shared a grin and I questioned hesitantly, "Remus – where did you get your scars from?" He flinched at the question and I sighed, "Merlin, I'm so **stupid**. Sorry Remus. Mum says I don't think before I speak but I was only . Because – because I got mine from a dragon and I wanted to know how you got yours."_

 _"You've got scars?" he repeated quietly, eyes wide._

 _I met his eyes and nodded, "Want to see?"_

 _Before he could say anything, I was unbuttoning my cardigan and taking it off to reveal the short-sleeved blouse I was wearing underneath. Because it was short sleeved, he could see the scars littering my entire right arm._

 _"There's more on my shoulder," I muttered as I buttoned my cardigan again, "but I got mine from the dragon's dad used to work with."_

 _"Dragons?" Remus repeated doubtfully but I nodded quickly._

 _"We moved to a reserve when I was young and I snuck into a dragon pen when I shouldn't have. And well – now I have scars and I learnt not to do that again."_

 _"If you lived near dragons then it must be **really** boring here," he said conversationally._

 _"Not anymore," I shrugged, reaching out to take one of his hands in both of mine, "I've met you now and it's so much more fun. Let's be best friends?"_

 _"I – why?"_

 _"Because the other girls in the area made fun of my scars and the boys all smell." He tried not to laugh, "And I like you."_

 _Remus' smile was hesitant, "I like you too."_

"I just don't understand," Severus hissed from across the table, drawing me out of my memory.

I rolled my eyes, "Snape, no one likes a whiner. You've been complaining about this since our first year, we're now in our sixth. What's it going to take for you to drop it?"

"How can you be friends with him?" he insisted.

"Because I like him," I said firmly enough to make him drop the topic.

Glancing briefly at my watch, I gathered my things and rose to my feet. If I left now then I could make it to the hospital wing before lessons began and I could even manage to spend some time there.

"Where are you going?" Josephine Nott reached out to grab my hand.

"I need to stop by the library," I lied, slipping my hand out of hers with an apologetic smile. "I'll see you in class."

"I can go with you –" she offered but I was already walking away.

As I walked further away from her, I heard her let out a sigh and mutter that I had to be hiding something. It wasn't rare for me to leave the Slytherin table early. No. Once a month for a few days in a row I made sure to leave the table early. They would never understand why I was doing it and they could never find out why either.

Until society was ready to accept everyone as equal, I was going to have to keep this secret. But until then, I would continue to work towards that Ministry job to change these backwards laws myself.

My steps began to quicken as I drew closer to the hospital wing and pushing the doors open and stepping inside. Madam Pomfrey who had been making her rounds, didn't bother to comment on my appearance in the infirmary and instead pointed to the four occupied beds at the end of the room.

"Make sure to leave before lessons Miss Richmond," she warned as I walked past her, "or else I'll be forced to revoke your access."

"You won't even need to remind me to leave," I promised as I walked to the end of the room.

Once I reached the four beds at the farthest end of the room, I looked over the four boys who were awake and clearly bored out of their minds. Potter had gotten through the pile of quidditch magazines that someone had dropped off for him and Black and Pettigrew were working their way through a game of exploding snap. Remus was busy reading a very boring-looking, thick tome when I approached his bed.

He looked up at the sound of my footsteps, giving me a smile only to wince when it pulled at a fresh scar that he had developed during the night.

"You know," Remus began quietly as I put my bag on the edge of his bed, looking through it, "you don't need to keep doing this."

"Shut up," I ordered, rolling my eyes. "You're acting like I haven't been doing this since I was 10. So can it. How can you expect me to change a habit so easily?"

He had no words as I managed to find the bag of chocolate that I had brought during the last Hogsmeade trip in preparation for today. Placing the bag on his table, I watched with a small smile as he picked the bag up curiously, looking through it to see what was in it. Turning back to my bag, I pulled out my notes and left them on the side.

With a glance at my watch, I let out a regretful sigh. "I should probably get going."

"Already?" he asked with a frown, reaching out to take my hand when I went to grab my bag. "Can't you stay longer."

"I'll be late to class," I pointed out, turning my hand in his to link our fingers together briefly before pulling my hand away. "Besides, Pomfrey will kick me out if I don't leave and she won't let me come and check on you anymore."

"You should probably get going then," he said with a sigh, leaning back against the pillow. "Merlin knows you're the only thing keeping me insane in this hospital wing."

There were identical shouts of protest from the other three Gryffindors in the hospital wing. Remus and I shared a grin as I slung my bag over my shoulder. I hesitated for a moment, not yet ready to leave and turned back to Remus.

"How was it?" I asked quietly, eyes lingering on the new wound beside his mouth.

"It sucked," he answered truthfully, "just as bad as every other one."

I sighed, hating that he had to suffer in this way. Merlin, he didn't deserve this pain but it was something that he'd need to live with for the rest of his life. We'd both heard about the new wolfsbane potion but it was still in its testing phase. If it all worked out, then there was no reason for Remus to let this run his life.

"You're worrying again," he remarked quietly, reaching out to touch my face.

"Can't help it." I shrugged, "Anyway, don't even think about leaving the hospital wing until Pomfrey gives you the all clear."

Walking towards him, I leaned over to press a kiss to his forehead. No one commented on the gesture; they had long since grown used to it.

I had been 10 when I found out about Remus' condition and Remus' the pessimist that he was, thought I was going to leave him. Like hell I was. If anything, I clung to him even more. I was always at his house the morning after a full moon and I had noticed that his mother had a habit of pressing a kiss to his forehead whenever he was recovering from the effects of the full moon. And so, because she couldn't give him his kisses whilst we were at Hogwarts, I gave them instead.

"Rest up," I said gently, patting his cheek and walking out of the hospital wing.

Merlin, how was it that even a little kiss to his forehead made my heart thump inside my chest?

* * *

Because of the close friendship that Remus and I had developed over the years, our parents had done the same. It wasn't odd for us to visit the Lupins and vice versa when the holidays arrived. This time the Lupins had been invited to our home for dinner and maybe it was the prefect in him, but Remus kept hovering around the kitchen, insistent on helping my mother. She just leaned up to pat his cheek and turned back to the stove, throwing me a look.

I moved into the kitchen, linking my arm through Remus' to pull him out of the room. He tried to protest but only when his mother told him to relax did he let me drag him with me. Leading him away from the kitchen, I walked him through the front room where our fathers were discussing dragon classifications of all things.

"Where are we going?" Remus protested, following me. We both knew he could have successfully resisted if he wanted to, but he didn't.

"Away from our parents," I said dismissively, leading him up the stairs and to my bedroom.

Crossing the threshold, I released his arm and shut the door behind us. As I moved through the room, putting away some books that I'd forgotten about, I waited for him to say something.

When he didn't, I decided to speak instead, "Did you hear about – Remus, what the hell is wrong with you?"

As I spoke, I had glanced over my shoulder only to furrow my eyebrows. Remus stood _very_ awkwardly by the door of my bedroom, shuffling on his feet and glancing pointedly around the room. Salazar, what was his issue?

"Remus?" I called out, approaching him. He cleared his throat, looking back to me with a small, insecure smile. "Seriously, what's going on? You're acting like you've never been in my room before. Well, Remus?"

He looked to me then, meeting my waiting eyes. Still he said nothing and I raised an eyebrow, growing a little concerned. Clearing his throat awkwardly, he brushed past me and finally left the entrance of the room. I watched as he walked, heading to my desk to pick up one of the numerous picture frames.

Glancing over his shoulder at me, he gestured to the picture, "You look cute here."

Growing flustered under his eyes, I thanked my lucky stars that I hadn't done anything stupid like blush. Instead I walked up to him and snatched the picture frame from his hands to put it back in its place. When I saw just which picture he'd picked up, I grimaced. Merlin, I didn't look _cute_ in that picture – I didn't even look human in it.

It was taken after he had surprised me for my ninth birthday. He'd spent the night making a cake with his mum and had gotten her to floo over with him first thing in the morning and they'd both barged into the room, making me wake up. My hair was a complete mess, eyes blurry with sleep and I swore I could see some drool dried on my chin. Not to mention the boogers in the corner of my eyes. The picture was a mess and the only reason I had kept it so long was because _he_ looked cute in it, smiling expectantly at me.

Until I had looked at his eager expression, I had been ready to chew him out. But one look at that smile and I was done for, all my anger fading away. He went on to speak quickly about how he had spent all night baking it but his mother hadn't been allowed to help, she just watched. Up until that point it had been the most he'd spoken at once and I blinked, surprised. He insisted that I ate it right away because 'who cares about breakfast when it's your birthday!' and I did just that. And, considering that it had been made by an almost 9-year-old, it was surprisingly good. Well, it was edible.

"You kept it," Remus said, surprised from behind me.

I looked to him then, curious to see what had him so surprised. Seeing the teddy bear held aloft in his arms, I rolled my eyes.

"Of course I kept it you weirdo," I muttered, coming to his side to see him slowly brush some of the teddy's fur back before he returned it to its rightful place on my bed.

"It's years old," he protested, peering down at me with raised eyebrows.

"So?" I demanded defensively, reaching out to straighten my bedsheets. "You won it for me at the fair. And, for your information he's long since become one of my favourites."

An affectionate smile pulled at the corner of his mouth but he said nothing. Instead Remus leaned down to help me straighten out the imaginary creases on my bedsheet. He knew that I fussed like this when he managed to fluster me and had he been influenced just one percent more by his Gryffindor friends then he would have teased me about becoming flustered. But just because he wasn't teasing me, it didn't mean that mischief wasn't flitting through his eyes.

He called my name, growing a little thoughtful. I turned my face towards him curiously, eyes widening when I found my face only a few millimetres away from his. For one second I got the impression that he was going to kiss me but dismissed it because it was a ridiculous thought –

That was until I watched his eyes flicker to my lips as I unconsciously licked them.

Salazar's soul.

I waited, stock still to see what he would do as anticipation bloomed in the pit of my stomach. He leaned towards me then and without my consent my eyes flickered shut. And I waited, my heart hammering in my chest.

The door slammed shut.

When I realised what had happened, I opened my eyes and my breath left me in one deep sigh. Perching on the edge of my bed, I buried my head in my hands.

Merlin's bloody beard, this was _too much._

* * *

No matter how mature you claimed Remus Lupin was, when it came down to it he was just like every other frustrating boy in the school. When push came to shove, he reverted back to the mentality of a 12-year-old. Salazar, I had hoped that after the _embarrassing_ event, we would just be able to brush past it and continue to be friends. But apparently that was too much to ask.

The ridiculous man – no, _boy_ – the ridiculous boy was going out of his way to avoid me. And when he couldn't avoid me in the lessons where we were sat side by side, he spent the entire lesson staring straight ahead and didn't even both to glance my way. I'd just about had enough.

He wasn't exactly subtle in his avoidance of me. Even my friends had noticed and whilst they hadn't exactly approved of my friendship with him in the first place, they were worried that something big had happened. But they didn't question me about it. It wasn't the Slytherin thing to pry into business that had nothing to do with you.

They only probed into it when it became obvious that I was going to remain tight-lipped about my supposed falling out with Remus. Which was ridiculous because as far as I was concerned, we _hadn't_ had a falling out.

"What's going on with you and Lupin?" Josephine asked as we walked towards Charms. "Did the two of you have a fight?"

"No," I muttered rolling my eyes. "If we _had_ had a fight then there would have been a reason for this ridiculous behaviour. But we haven't had a fight."

"Something's happened though?" she asked tentatively and I nodded. "Ok, just tell me if Lupin's done something wrong and I'll hex him for you."

"There's no need to hex him."

Josephine nodded at my insistence, taking it at face value. Once again, I was glad that it was an unsaid rule within the common room that you didn't probe into a matter that didn't concern you. You were only privy to details of something if you were told about it, or else you became satisfied with knowing nothing. And well, if you were too nosey to accept that, then you'd face being hexed. That was just the way privacy was maintained within the house.

Without a word, Josephine linked her arm through mine and we both walked into the Charms classroom. She squeezed my arm comfortingly and with a reluctant smile, I followed her into the room. My eyes instantly went to the desk that I always sat in before drifting towards the Gryffindor sat in the seat beside mine. Josephine released my arm, walking to the desk behind my usual one and I hesitated for a moment. Clearing my throat, I tightened my hold on my bag strap and ventured further into the classroom. Walking past Remus, past the desk I usually sat in, I settled into the space beside Josephine.

If he was capable of freezing me out, then I could do the same to him. I wasn't going to continue chasing after him when he clearly couldn't be bothered to give me a single moment of his time.

Jo threw me a cautious glance but said nothing when she met my eyes. Instead she began to chatter mindlessly and I knew that it was done purposefully to fill the awkward silence. Giving her a thankful smile, I put my bag on top of the desk and pulled my things out. I pretended not to see the glance Remus threw at me from over his shoulder.

Figures. The only time he started seeking me out was when I'd made up my mind to be done with him.

The rest of Remus' friends walked into the classroom after a few minutes. Normally Remus and I would get to the lessons that we shared early, just to spend some time alone together. I guess, even though we – for some stupid reason – weren't speaking right now, the habit had stuck for the both of us. I watched as the three Gryffindors shared a glance, eyes drifting past Remus's shoulder to settle on me. Avoiding their eyes, I flicked through my textbook.

Whilst the 'marauders' and I were never really best friends we all knew the truth; that I was Remus's oldest friend. And I had been mistaken to think that being friends the longest meant that I was his best friend, his closest friend. They shared another glance before Pettigrew broke away from Potter and Black to sit in my empty seat. Remus gave the smaller boy a smile and they two began to talk between themselves.

When the lesson commenced, I did my best to turn my attention away from the boy sat in front of me but it was difficult to do. Just staring at his broad-shouldered back, I was _so_ tempted to shake him and demand to know what I had done that was so wrong. If he didn't like me back and Merlin, it didn't seem like he did, then all he needed to do was _tell me_ about it – not ice me out.

Was that too much to ask?

Chewing the end of my quill contemplatively, I turned to Jo who was busy making notes. I glanced to my own piece of pristine parchment, without a spot of ink on it. I really should have been concentrating on the lesson but it was near impossible to do.

"Jo?" I called out quietly, she tilted her head curiously towards mine without turning her eyes away from her parchment.

"What?"

"Am I so repulsive that someone would chose to run away from me instead of kissing me?

My question startled her so much that her quill scraped across the parchment in her surprise. She turned incredulous eyes onto me, " _What?"_

"It's nothing," I said suddenly, clearing my throat and turning back to my parchment. "Forget it."

But she hadn't. Instead she narrowed her eyes onto Remus' back, only turning away when I nudged her and reminded her that she was falling behind with her note taking.

The rest of the lesson past uneventfully as I forced myself to pay attention to the words spoken by our Professor. Thankfully the lesson came to an end and I couldn't have been readier to leave the room and Remus far behind.

"I'll meet you in the common room," I told Josephine in my haste to get away.

She nodded, waving me away absentmindedly as she rummaged through her bag. I rose quickly to my feet, brushing past a still seated Remus and heading to the door. Potter cut in front of me, staring defiantly down at me when I tried to dodge past him.

"What do you want Potter?" I demanded, crossing my arms, "I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now."

"What's going on with you and Remus?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. I was surprised that Remus hadn't told him but I didn't let it cross my features.

"I don't think this has anything to do with you?"

"Maybe not," he agreed, "but I don't like seeing my friends get hurt. Aren't you being a little cruel to Remus?"

"Maybe," I liked my bottom lip, nodding my head slowly, "but if you're so curious about what's going on – talk to Remus before coming after me."

"Richmond," Potter protested as I managed to dodge past him.

"Look Potter," with a sigh, I turned to look at him. "This might seem cruel to you but this is just my way of protecting myself from being hurt by someone who's decided that he wants nothing to do with me. So, drop it."

As I hurried away from the classroom, I pretended that I hadn't seen Remus come up behind Potter. And I especially pretended not to see the way my words made his face fall. He had no reason to be looking like that.

Not when he was the one that started it.

* * *

I should've known better than to believe Potter would have let the matter drop. I had managed to forget that Gryffindors weren't like Slytherins; they didn't have the sense of knowing when not to interfere. Salazar, I really hadn't expected to find myself cornered by Remus' friends when I had been walking innocently through the corridor. I had found myself dragged into a classroom and my hand went instantly to my wand, digging it into the jugular of whoever had pulled me in.

Pettigrew glanced cautiously to the wand I had aimed at him and he swallowed nervously, waiting for me to remove it. My eyes drifted past his shoulder to the two taller boys and I let out a sigh, bringing my wand back to my side. Potter cast a locking charm on the door and I raised an eyebrow; was that really supposed to stop me from leaving? My exit was only one small spell away but I decided to humour them.

"I hope you realise exactly how cliché this is," I said, stepping away from the door to sit on one of the chairs. The three Gryffindors watched me incredulously, sharing a look as I stared impatiently back at them. "Well? I thought you brought me in here because you wanted to say something? Or is abducting girls just what you do?"

"Don't be stupid," Black said, crossing his arms and leaning against the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom, "I'm much too handsome to have to resort to that."

I looked to him then, carefully taking in each of his features and Black, aware of my inspection tilted his head with a cocky smirk. He ran a hand through his hair as though he knew it was enough to make a girl's heart race. And maybe it was. But it certainly did nothing for me.

"I don't see it," I admitted honestly, making Pettigrew snicker from beside the door.

Black started to protest instantly, falling silent when Potter threw a look his way.

"Leave it Padfoot." Looking to me, Potter approached the desk I was sitting at, "We spoke to Remus."

I propped my chin with my hand, "And?"

"I think you should know why he didn't kiss you," he insisted.

My mouth parted in shock as I whispered, "He really told you."

Salazar, I'd fully expected Remus to give them some sort of lie about what had happened. I hadn't expected him to tell them the truth. Straightening in my seat, I crossed my arms and waited expectantly.

Shaking my head, I asked myself, "Merlin, is nothing private anymore?" The look I got in response was enough to make me stop. "Well, what about it Potter?"

"You know about his furry little problem," Black said as if I was being stupid. "Do you not get it or are you being thick on purpose?"

"Black," I warned, "don't make me hex you."

"Well don't you know how he feels about it?" Pettigrew asked, butting in, "How much it made him isolate himself from everyone?"

"So?" I questioned but then it clicked.

 _Merlin_ , did it click –

I took in a deep breath, rising from my seat and meeting Potter's waiting eyes. He nodded, knowing what I was thinking. Groaning aloud, I shook my head. Remus wasn't stupid enough to –

Oh who was I kidding, of course he was.

"My God, he's not _that_ pessimistic that he's sworn off of dating because of that, is he?" The answering silence was all I needed. "Merlin, for someone so smart, he really is an idiot."

"No arguments here," Black muttered.

"Where is he?" I asked, thinking quickly. When was he going to learn that this didn't need to limit him in any way?

"Why?" Pettigrew asked as I pushed away from the desk to approach the door.

Rolling my eyes, I deadpanned, "Because I'm going to hex some sense into him. I won't promise to return him to you in one piece, though."

As I unlocked the door, I heard Potter call out behind me, "He's by the Black Lake."

That was enough for me to know exactly where he was. Thanking Potter as I walked out of the classroom, I made my way to the Black Lake. It was obvious where I would find him. And sure enough, when I got to 'our' tree I found him slumped under it. The tree that we'd claimed as ours was the one we revised under every summer during the lead up to exams when the library became too loud. Remus' senses heightened in the build up to the full moon and being in the library during exam time sometimes proved too much for him and so we'd taken to staying out of the room as a whole.

As I drew closer to the tree, I realised that his eyes were closed as he rested against it, legs splayed out in front of him. When he let out a deep breath I knew he wasn't asleep and I went to his side.

"Why are you out here in the cold?" I questioned as I got closer to him.

Remus' eyes opened in surprise and I would have teased him for not using his wolfy-senses to smell my approach if he didn't look so startled. He straightened up, crossing his legs under him as he spoke cautiously, "Hi."

"Hi," I replied, stopping in front of him and crossing my arms. Now that the pleasantries were out of the way I could let it all out. Clearing my throat, I locked my eyes onto his and spoke firmly, "Remus John Lupin for such a smart man, you are such a bloody idiot. If someone wants to learn how to overreact to something then they should do it from you."

He blinked, taken aback by my outburst. "What?"

"Potter told me."

My words had him rising to his feet, planning to run away. But I was quicker, aiming my wand at his chest. He hesitated, looking between my wand and my eyes.

"Don't make me place you under a body bind," I warned. He thought over my words, weighing them carefully before deciding that I would carry out my threat. He knew me well then. Sitting with a sigh, he looked at me with a frown only to avert his eyes moments later. "Honestly, what kind of Gryffindor are you? Running away when you're confronted? I thought Gryffindors were about bravery, honour and all that bollocks."

Remus' eyes flickered hesitantly towards mine. "Is there a point to all of this or –"

He trailed off at the sight of my narrowed eyes. "What have I told you about using your wolfy-ness as an excuse to restrict yourself from doing anything?"

My words made him start and he went to protest only to give up at my glare, knowing I wasn't going to accept whatever bullshit he decided to sprout. He sighed and admitted, "That it makes me an idiot."

"And you are _far_ too smart to be an idiot." Kneeling in front of him, I met his lowered eyes, "Now, you listen to me carefully because I'm only going to say this once. This is what's going to happen; I'm going to kiss you and depending on how good you are at it, I might not hex you for –"

Except, _he_ surged forward to kiss me making the end of my sentence disappear into thin air. When I managed to understand just what had happened, I returned the kiss, leaning into him only to have him pull away from me. I blinked up at him with confused eyes.

"What –"

"The full moon's coming and I'm more impulsive than normal," he explained, bringing a hand up to rub his thumb across my cheek. "And personally, I'd rather get rid of my impulsiveness like this than get into fights."

"Me too," I admitted with a small smile, watching as he gave me a full-blown grin, the first I'd seen in a while.

So really, it was no surprised when _I_ pulled _him_ into kiss.


	2. Epilogue: 5 Years Later

_5 YEARS LATER_

There weren't many things that I hoped for when imaging what life would be like after Hogwarts. I'd wanted a steady job surrounded by my friends and family. Life had gotten in the way, _Voldemort_ had gotten in the way. But now, in a post Voldemort world, I was happy with what I had. I had the steady job, focusing on improving the lives of those the ministry continued to suppress and perhaps more importantly, unlike so many others I still had a home.

Home; the one place where, upon stepping into it, the comfort seeped through my entire body. Home was the small apartment I had bought after working my way through the ministry ladder, with its cramped yet comforting interior which at times seemed too small to fit two people and at other times was so incredibly perfect for us. But it didn't matter that the apartment was sometimes too cramped, that it was far from work or that the floorboards in the bathroom creaked under the slightest of pressure. None of that mattered when I came home from a busy day at work to the sight of Remus standing behind the stove. Because, after all, Remus was home and he always had been.

I apparated into the apartment, the wards letting me in easily and, at the sound of apparation, Remus walked through the low hanging doorway, crouching slightly as he walked into the hallway. He welcomed me with a smile and just the sight of him eased all the fatigue that built up over the week. Even if he was currently wearing that frilly pink apron that I'd brought for myself but seemed to suit him more.

"How was work?" he asked, opening his arms and letting me step into them.

I did without an ounce of hesitation, sighing when his arms closed around me. "Busy." Burrowing my face into the crook of his neck, I took a deep lungful of his soothing smell. I was home; _he_ was home. Pulling back to peer into his face, I grinned and rose to my toes to press a peck to his lips, "I missed you."

"Someone's happy," he murmured, drawing reluctantly away from me to check up on the dinner that he'd left unsupervised.

I shrugged out of my coat and scarf, draping them over the back of the sofa and following after him. "I have something to tell you."

"Me too." He glanced over his shoulder, pointing to the dining table and telling me to sit. I watched as he served up two bowls of soup and magicked them to the table. "What happened?"

"I finally managed to get one up on those stuffy old men." Remus, who was making his way to the table, raised an eyebrow. "I managed to get the bill passed through the Wizengamot."

"Which one?" he asked with a sheepish smile, "You've got a lot of crusades."

"The one to allow werewolves to receive monthly dosages of the wolfsbane potions through the ministry to ease transformation," I rushed out, watching the way his eyes rose in pleasant surprise at my revelation. "It took a while but I managed to get enough votes. I know that there's a lot more left to work out. It's obvious that most of the werewolves in Britain aren't going to want to come forward but –"

Remus cut off my prattling, leaning down to press a kiss to my lips, his hands coming up to frame my face. When he pulled away, he was smiling softly at me before pressing a tender kiss to my forehead. Straightening up he went around the table and sat down in his own seat.

"Thank you."

"Don't be stupid, Remus." Leaning across the table, I took his hand in mine for a moment and gave it a squeeze. "This is what needs to be done. We need to live in a world where there's equality amongst _everyone,_ not just the pureblood elite. There's so much stigma and prejudice in the wizarding world that needs to be abolished."

Remus chuckled, shaking his head, "Who'd have thought that the rambunctious 8-year-old girl who declared herself my friend only minutes after meeting me, would grow up to become a champion for equal rights."

"Well someone has to," I grumbled, picking up my spoon to try the soup. When I did, I frowned a little. "It's not fair that you're good at _everything,_ Remus."

"Oh, shut up." He was grinning.

"So?" I glanced down into my bowl, "What did you want to talk about?"

Remus cleared his throat, making me look up at him. When I met his gaze, he gestured towards something and following his gesture, my eyes widened at the box lying innocently beside my glass. When had that gotten there? I looked back to Remus who had become suddenly fascinating with the contents of his soups bowl. He glanced at me from under his eyelashes as I reached out to pick the box up with shaking fingers.

Letting out a deep breath, I opened the box and stared down at the ring his mother had worn up until her passing. Salazar, it was a beautiful ring. One that I had never expected to be given.

Clearing my throat, I finally looked up and waited as he hesitantly raised his eyes to mine. I pushed my chair away from the table, watching as his eyes grew conflicted, not knowing how to interpret my silence. He got his answer when I walked around the table to throw myself into his arms.

Remus chuckled, the sound buried into my shoulder as I held him close.

"I'm going to take this as a yes," he warned.

I drew back from him a little, "Of course it's a yes, you stupid man."

And then we were grinning at each other and in that moment, nothing else mattered except the fact that we had each other. The darkness of the outside world didn't matter in this moment, it wasn't tainting this moment of peace.

Everything would be ok.


End file.
